The Samsung Galaxy S8 has finally been launched and… well, it’s entirely as we expected thanks to the myriad leaks that sprung up all over the internet in the preceding months.

But the good news is that it’s a rather nifty phone, and you can check it out in some rather sumptuous depth in our hands-on: Samsung Galaxy S8 review to get all the morsels of information you could want on Samsung’s new flagship.

We know that some of you are in more of a rush though, and just want to know what’s new and whether you should care about the new Samsung phone – and no, before you ask (and we have been asked countless times): it’s not going to catch fire this time. Samsung has been very clear about that.

What it will do is impress you with the large display, faster innards and all-round improvements throughout the user interface – so if you’re not going to check out our thorough and filled-with-beautiful-photos Samsung Galaxy S8 hands-on (the plugs will only get more shameless) we’ve rounded up all the salient information here.

 SAMSUNG GALAXY S8 SPECS

Samsung has now confirmed the Galaxy S8 release date: April 21 for the US, and April 28 for the rest of the world (including the UK) – although it hasn’t given specific information on territories such as Australia.

You can pre-order the phone already and if you do so before April 19 you’ll get the Samsung Galaxy S8 delivered to your door as soon as the April 20 if you’re in the UK (but no word on a free Gear VR… boo).

Samsung Galaxy S8 price

• Galaxy S8 price: $720, £689, AU$1,199

The SIM-free Samsung Galaxy S8 price is $720 (£689, AU$1,199) – which certainly makes it one of the most expensive phones on the market.

On contract in the US, it’ll cost you anywhere from $28 to $35 a month, depending on your carrier.

In the UK you’ll be able to pick up the Galaxy S8 for around £40 per month on a two year deal – put you’ll have to part with some cash upfront too.

However, for that money you do get more storage than before, as the phone will land with 64GB of on board storage, rather than the 32GB of last year – plus there’s a microSD card slot and some decent AKG headphones in the bundle too.

Yes, that’s right: it wraps, as this is a curved screen by default. There’s no flat version this year as Samsung saw how well-received the Galaxy S7 Edge was last year and decided to make that the flagship experience.

The Galaxy S8 took the title by supporting more colors than rivals, an unhindered contrast ratio and the first screen certified by the UHD alliance. In short, the screen on the Samsung Galaxy S8 looks fantastic.

The second big change is the addition of another key on the phone, which will take you to the Bixby assistant. This is Samsung’s big play in the smartphone AI stakes, a contextual assistant that can work out what you need through voice, touch or the camera.

This means the fonts are smoother, the menus more clean and natural-looking (with little recommendations of other things you might be looking for in the settings menu – a nice touch), and even the symbols for navigating through the phone have been altered to offer a more premium look.

 Design

The outer rim is a fusion of metal and glass, with everything rolling attractively together in the hand, and very few hard edges to find under the finger.

In short, it’s a very well made phone from Samsung, and with the headphone jack still present and correct, it’s going to please a fair few users looking to get a top-end phone with beautiful lines.

Camera

• Single, 12MP rear facing camera
• 8MP front facing camera

The Samsung Galaxy S8 camera hasn’t really been given much of an upgrade compared to the Galaxy S7, which will be a bit of a disappointment for some. The Galaxy S6 had a good snapper and yet Samsung still decided to upgrade it – but no such luck this year.

There’s also the same impressive range of modes and options from Samsung within the Galaxy S8, from the clever auto mode, which manages to pick out a great picture nearly every time, to the professional mode, which offers the chance to really tweak the settings and shoot in raw too.

The front-facing camera has been boosted to 8MP, and there’s also a fun new effects button which you can use to give yourself a range of augmented reality makeovers to entertain your friends, as they wonder why you’ve not just decided to use Snapchat instead.

Battery

• 3,000mAh, non-removable power pack
• Fast and wireless charging support

Samsung hasn’t really done much to the battery either with the Galaxy S8, which does raise our eyebrows a touch.

On top of that there’s also a full suite of wireless charging compatibility – in short, if there’s a wireless charging point where you are, it can charge your Galaxy S8.

Fast charging is also enabled, although Samsung hasn’t given exact numbers on how quickly the handset will power up just yet.

We’d estimate about 15 minutes of charge giving you a third of your power back, but we’ll await confirmation from Samsung on that one.

Power and operating system

• 4GB of RAM
• Android 7 with TouchWiz interface
• Use two sets of wireless headphones at the same time

It looks like Samsung has split its processor strategy with the Galaxy S8, with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 likely at the heart of the phone in the US, with the Exynos 8895 doing the grunt work throughout the rest of the world.

Thing is, Samsung hasn’t explicitly said this is case. We know some Galaxy S8 will definitely pack the Exynos 8895 chip though, as the firm has tweeted confirmation of this.

 

There’s 4GB of RAM in the Galaxy S8 too. Rumor has it that Asian markets will be getting more (and Samsung has cryptically said the specs will vary throughout the world); however, 4GB is more than enough, and in our tests (you can read about them in our in-depth hands-on Samsung Galaxy S8 review… you know you want to) we found the phone to be lightning fast.

As mentioned, the Samsung Galaxy S8 is running Android Nougat, with the latest version of the operating system offering things like Google Assistant to the user, as well as improved battery management.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 also packs in Bluetooth 5.0, the latest version of the wireless standard and one of its party pieces lets you use two sets of wireless headphones at the same time.

Samsung Galaxy S8 vs Galaxy S8 Plus

The Samsung Galaxy S8 isn’t alone, it arrived alongside its bigger brother the Galaxy S8 Plus – but what’s the difference between Samsung’s two flagship phones?

In truth, not a lot. The Galaxy S8+ boasts a larger 6.2-inch display and 4,000mAh battery, but the rest of the spec sheet is identical to the Galaxy S8.

Check out our versus video below to get the full run-down of the two new Galaxy phones.

Samsung Galaxy S8 vs Sony Xperia XZ Premium vs iPhone 7

We’ve put the new Galaxy S8 up against the stylish iPhone 7 and the eye-popping Sony XZ Premium smartphone – check out our video below to see how they compare.

Samsung Galaxy S8 vs LG G6

Both South Korean giants have now launched their 2017 flagship phones, so we’ve put them head-to-head to find out how they compare – and more importantly, which is best.

Will it be the dual-camera LG G6 or and all-screen Samsung Galaxy S8 – read our in depth versus to find out.

Wrap up

In short, we’d urge you to read our Samsung Galaxy S8 hands-on review – it’s the place to be if you want a really in-depth look at this phone.

However, this is a phone that’s far more impressive than the sum of its parts: while a wrap-around screen doesn’t sound like enough to warrant buying a phone, it’s an incredibly impressive look, and one that will lure in many buyers.

The camera and battery life are likely to be good enough, and the raw power of this phone will see it shine through nearly every task.

The Galaxy S8 is a great phone at its heart, and we’ll now be waiting with much intrigue to see how Apple responds…